Since Ella Minnow Pea is one of my favorite books of all time, it only makes sense that I would search out other books by its author, Mark Dunn. (I’m embarrassed to say how long it actually took me to look it up, though.)
When I did that, I found that Dunn has written several other books. So far, Ibid: A Novel is the only one I’ve read.
Here’s the setup: After his editor’s son accidentally drowns the sole copy of his latest manuscript in the bathtub, the author decides to publish that biography — of three-legged circus performer-cum-deodorant magnate and humanitarian Jonathan Blashette — through the only part of the text that survives: the footnotes.
Point the first: I don’t think any other author (that I’ve encountered, anyway) could pull off a fictional narrative consisting wholly of footnotes. Dunn did it, and did it well. So very clever.
Point the second: I was laughing out loud for the first half of the book or so. I found it quite humorous.
Number three: The laughs trailed off as the end of the book neared. With biographies, fictional or not, I guess we generally know how they end? Not that thrilling. Or exciting. Or funny.
Overall, totally worth it, but I was somewhat disappointed in the end. I’m just not sure how justified my feelings on that subject are. Maybe it was unavoidable.
4.5 stars (out of 5)
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I’ve never heard of this book but I did love Ella Minnow Pea. It sounds like this one is just as clever.
Definitely. Clever in a different way, perhaps, but certainly still incredibly creative and inventive.
I loved Ella Minnow Pea too, and promised I would search for more novels by Mark Dunn but never did — shame on me! So thank you for sharing this, I’ll be sure to check it out.
BTW: I am looking forward to reading another narrative book that is (as far as I could understand) made up of footnotes only, “Translator’s Revenge” by French author Brice Matthieussent. I find it funny that I’m now going to place both in the same order!
That’s definitely funny! Interesting to learn there are, at least potentially, other books made up of only footnotes.